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Introduction
After reading an article in the San Diego
Union-Tribune on February 21, 1996, I decided to confine my research
paper and speech to Alzheimer's Disease. It is a growing
epidemic and could happen to any one of us as we reach our golden
years. I can only hope that my research will clarify the cause and
effect that the disease has on its victims.
Here are a few of the questions that I
will try to answer or clarify about Alzheimer's disease:
Who discovered Alzheimer's Disease?
What is Alzheimer's disease?
At what age does the disease present
itself?
How accurate are predictions for
Alzheimer's?
What is the cause of the disease?
What are the signs or symptoms?
What affect does it have on loved ones
and friends?
Are there any medications on the market
for Alzheimer's patients?
Conclusion
References
Additional
Reading
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Who
Discovered Alzheimer's Disease?
In 1906 a German neuropathologist by the name
of Alois Alzheimer described this dreaded disease and found through his
studies that approximately 2.5 to 4 million persons in the United States
alone are afflicted each year. About 17 to 20 million people around
the world suffer from Alzheimer's and may be due to two bad copies of the
inherited presenilin-1 (PS-1) gene (The U.S. Alzheimer's Disease
Collaborative Group), London (Reuter)
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What
is Alzheimer's?
Alzheimer's can be defined as a progressive
degenerative disease of the brain which increases with the advancement of
age and is a leading cause of dementia, (Funk & Wagnall's
Corporation).
We know very little about this disease.
There was a time when the average life expectancy of persons with the
disease was between five and ten years, although due to the improvement in
care and medical treatments their lives have been expanded to fifteen years
or more.
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At
What Age Does it Show Up?
It has been found through studies that were
published in "The Journal of the American Medical Association,"
on February 21, 1996, that Alzheimer's disease can be detected as early as
20 years of age (San Diego Union-Tribune). The study was based
on the autobiographies of 93 young women who were about to join an order of
nuns. All of these women had similar backgrounds, were born before
1917, and all were white. The advantage of studying the nuns, was
that they lived together in the same environment for 60 years, and had the
same diet. Therefore, this study does not address the questions of
whether race, reproductive history, diet or environment can affect the risk
of Alzheimer's disease.
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Can
Researchers Predict Who Will Have Alzheimer's?
The researchers were able to predict with 90
percent accuracy which ones would develop Alzheimer's disease when they
were in their golden years. Recent studies show that a small
percentage of Alzheimer's cases may be inherited. These women are now
in their 80's and nearly one third of them are afflicted with the
disease. It was found that the women that wrote sentences that were
grammatically complex and packed full of ideas when they were in their 20's
remained sharp of mind. The women that used sentences that were
simple and lacked complex grammatical constructions were demented by the
time they were in their 60's. The research also showed that no matter
how well educated the women were it was not a deterrent for Alzheimer's.
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What
Causes Alzheimer's?
The American Medical Association (Random
House, Ó1987 &1989), stated that
the underlying cause of Alzheimer's disease is not known, but studies have
revealed the physical affects it has on the brain tissue: the brain
becomes shrunken from loss of nerve cells, and the nerve tracts become
distorted as a result of deposition in the brain of the protein called
amyloid. There are also theories proposed, ranging from the effects
of a chronic infection to those of toxic poisoning by a metal such as
aluminum.
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What
Are The Signs or Symptoms?
The symptoms and signs of the disease vary for
each individual, although there are three broad stages:
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The first stage is when the person notices
his or her increased forgetfulness and may try to compensate by writing
lists or asking for the help of others around them. Because of this
forgetfulness the person feels anxious and depressed. |
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The second phase is severe memory loss,
especially of recent events. The victim may remember things from
their past when they were young, but are unable to remember people or
events that took place the day before. They become disoriented as
to time or place, losing their way in familiar surroundings. Their
concentration declines, anxiety increases, mood changes are sudden and
unpredictable, and personality changes soon become apparent. |
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The third stage is when the person becomes
severely disoriented and confused, and may suffer from symptoms of
psychosis, such hallucinations and paranoid delusions. These
symptoms are usually more severe at night. These people show signs
of nervous system disease, such as involuntary reflexes, such as shaking
uncontrollably. |
Some of these afflicted people become
demanding, unpleasant and sometimes violent. Others become docile and
somewhat helpless. They neglect personal hygiene and may wander
aimlessly.
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What
Medications Are Available?
Doctors can prescribe Cognex (tacrine
hydrochloride) for the afflicted individual to treat symptoms.
It is not a cure and eventually the disease will take precedence.
This disease can be diagnosed in one of two ways, by examination of the
brain, either by brain biopsy or by a coroner after death of the afflicted
person. There are tests going on by American Biogenetic Sciences,
Inc., that covers blood tests for Alzheimer's Disease. In
announcing the issuance and licensing of the patent, Alfred J. Roach,
Chairman and CEO, stated that the Tau-Peptide Screening Test (tPST Ô)
"strengthens our neurobiology program, and we look to form
alliances with other companies in this field. This is an example of
how the ABS Global Scientific Network can be utilized to identify and
develop more effective diagnostic and treatment products." [Trinity
College (Dublin, Ireland)].
There is also an eye test that researchers
have been working on. Huntington Potter, a neuroscientist at Harvard
Medical School, who ingeniously followed up on an observation about people
with Down Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes mental
retardation. Potter knew that almost all Down patients who live long
enough eventually develop brain lesions identical to those detected in
autopsies of Alzheimer's suffers. By scouring the scientific
literature, he learned that people with Down Syndrome are very sensitive to
tropicamide, the used to dilate the pupil of the eye. Potter then
approached Leonard Scinto, a neuroscientist now at Brigham and Women's
Hospital in Boston, about the possibility of using the drug to spot
Alzheimer's.
The past decade has seen remarkable
developments in brain imaging. Both magnetic resonance and
radiotracer imaging methods have been demonstrated to have value in the
diagnosis and monitoring of Alzheimer's disease. Diagnostic accuracy
in early cases is now at a level where the images can be clinically useful,
but the goal is to raise the art to a level of probilistic quantitative
interpretation, (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School)
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What
Effects Does it Have on Family and Friends?
The impact on family and other care givers can
be very stressful unless during the third stage of the disease the victim
can be placed in a care facility such as a convalescent home. It may
still be a burden financially but can give the family some rest and peace
of mind about the security and well being of their loved one.
Sometimes there are conflicts between family members as to whether or not
to place the loved one in a convalescent home which in many cases only
causes hard feelings and severed relationships within a family unit.
In the February 15th issue of the San Diego
Union-Tribune there was an article about a day care for Alzheimer's
patients which is offered in San Marcos. The facility has two main
purposes:
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One is that it give the Alzheimer's patients
an opportunity to get out of the home and into a different social
environment. |
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Two, it gives the families or other dare
givers a respite from their daily duties. The center is open from
7a.m. to 5:30p.m. Monday through Friday. They offer a host of
activities including music, arts and crafts, word and board games and
some outdoor games and exercises. |
One of our past presidents, Ronald Reagan who
had survived bullets and cancer, was diagnosed as having Alzheimer's
disease at the age of 82 which may be one of the toughest foes he will have
to face. Ronald Reagan's successful battles with ill health over the
years has been an inspiration to all, even those who disagreed with his
politics. He may not be able to win this battle, but the way he's
fighting it with candor and courage could be one of his most important
legacies, (TIME Domestic/"The Sunset of my Life").
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Conclusion
After researching the subject of Alzheimer's,
I now feel that there may be hope for the elderly. If the proper
research is done and we can find a way to genetically change the onset of
the disease we may live longer and have a healthier outlook on life for
many generations to come.
The stress factor of having to make
heartbreaking decisions about our loved ones lifestyle and habitats will be
greatly reduced due to their ability to further care for themselves.
This does not mean that we should forget about them. On the contrary,
we should make them a significant part of our lives, visiting with them at
every opportunity for they can enrich our minds with the history that they
had lived through.
My fathers' mother was afflicted with
Alzheimer's disease and was in the third phase of the disease for
about 8 years. My father visited her every day and tried to comfort
her by holding her hand and talking about anything that came to his
mind. She didn't seem to remember him from day to day but from what I
have read they can understand a great deal of what we are saying to then
even though they cannot communicate in return. My grandmother spoke
an entirely different language (gibberish) but many times her eyes revealed
how much pain she was in. But on the bright side, quoting my
father-in-law, "Look at it in a more positive light.
You're meeting new people every day!"
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References
The U.S. Alzheimer's Disease Collaborative Group, London (Reuter) (via
the Internet)
The Journal op the American Medical Association (Feb. 21, 1996)
The American Medical Association (Random House, Ó1987
& 1989)
American Biogenetic Sciences, Inc. (Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland)
(via the Internet))
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School (via the Internet)
TIME Domestic / "The Sunset of my Life" (Nov. 14, 1994, vol.
144, No. 20)
San Diego Union-Tribune (Feb. 15th issue)
San Diego Union-Tribune (Feb. 21, 1996)
Funk & Wagnall Corporation (Ó1994)
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BOOKS!
For additional reading.
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The Molecular
Biology of Alzheimer's Disease |
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Amyloid Protein
Precursor in Development, aging and Alzheimer's Disease |
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Image and Brain. The
Resolution of the Imagery Debate, S.M. Kosslyn (The MIT Press, 1994,
516p.) |
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Dementia and
Normal Aging, F.A. Huppert, C. Brayne & W. O'Connor, eds. (Cambridge
University Press, New York, 1994, 573p.) |
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Cognitive
Effects of Early Brain Injury, C. Dorman & B. Katzir (Johns Hopkins
University Press, Baltimore, 1994, 325p.) |
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Pharmacology of
Aging Processes (Methods of Assessment and Potential Interventions),
I.Zs.-Nagy, D. Harman & K. Kitani, eds. (New York Academy of
Sciences, New York, 1994, 350p.) |
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Genes and Aging,
M.S. Kanungo (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1994, 322p.) |
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Functional
Neural Transplantation, Stephen B. Dunnett & Anders Bjorklund, eds.
(Raven, New York, 1994, 339p.) |
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Cellular and
Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Higher Neural Functions, A.I. Selverston
& P. Ascher, eds. (Wiley, New York, 1994, 328p.) |
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Classification
& Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease: an international
perspective. T. Hovaguimian. (Hogrefe & Huber Pus., P.O. Box
51, Lewiston, NY 14092 USA) |
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